


The Gift

by Trystyian



Series: Drabbles [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Drabble, Family, Other, Random - Freeform, challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 12:24:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/622112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trystyian/pseuds/Trystyian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Altaïr is busy working in his office and his sons think he forgot something he promised them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Given characters. Altaïr Darim and Sef.  
> Prompt given: Leave a “Offer Me” in my ask, and I’ll write a drabble about one character giving another a gift.
> 
> This was written from the above given to me as a challenge.

Altaïr was sitting in his office the quill scratching away as he worked on the correspondence needed to run the order that was his.  Paperwork he despised but trusted no one else with since Malik was not around right now.  Maria was always busy with the boys that seemed to grow overnight.  He sighed not thinking about the time that was passing as the ink flowed onto the parchment slowly.  He didn't hear the door open, as he was too engrossed in making the script legible which was always a chore for him.

"Baba forgot."  The tiny voice of Sef wafted through the office.  His brother was with him as always.

"No it's just not late enough."  Darim's voice wasn't much different given that he was only five and his brother three.

Altaïr set his quill on the desk looking down at his sons and a smile crept across his tired face.  He turned the chair away from the desk so they could crawl into his lap. 

"What are you two doing in here so early?"  Maria had not followed them in which was strange.  "What's your mother doing?"

"Sleeping."  Darim answered first as it was always a contest as to who could answer faster.  Altaïr's face changed into worry as he shifted so he could rise carrying both boys.  He carried them easily climbing up to the private rooms that he and Maria shared.  He set the boys in the playroom and went to check on Maria.

She was laying in bed asleep soundly and Altaïr could only stand there and smile before he kissed her lightly without waking her he tiptoed out of the room.  He went back into the playroom knowing how loud his children could be he got an idea.  It wasn't often he spent much time with them and Maria looked exhausted.

"You two come here."  Altaïr grinned as he held out his arms.  The boys scampered into their father's embrace.  It was not snowing but there was snow on the ground.  "Let's get you two dressed to be outside."

Sef started jumping and screaming at the idea of getting out of the castle.  "Outside!  Outside!"

"Shh...  You wake your mother we are not going anywhere."

Darim was getting his warmer clothes on and sighed.  "You have to ruin everything."  Altaïr was almost laughing because so much of him was in his son it was scary for him at times.

Once they were dressed he scooped Sef up and held Darim's hand with his left hand.  "Baba is mummy going to sleep a long time?"

"You two don't let her sleep enough."  Altaïr wasn't going to explain to his three year old the real reason she was so tired being that it really had nothing to do with the kids and was his own fault.

Sef stuck his index finger between his lips that were full just like his father's as he thought hard about the assassin's explanation.

Darim was not really watching where he was walking as they walked out into the open training area that was packed with novices and initiates despite the cold weather.  He was watching all the people around him stare at his unhooded father as they stopped what they were doing at the sight of the Grandmaster being out in the yard with the boys.

"Baba why they look at me?"  Sef's smaller voice was almost a whisper in Altaïr's ear.

"They are not staring at you my son just me."  The assassin wasn't smiling or paying attention to anyone but his sons.  He pulled Darim along as he walked through the archway that led to the village that was perched just below the castle.  He left his hood down for a change gaining stares from the commoners in the streets and marketplace.

Altaïr knew exactly where he was heading as he reached the marketplace.  He scooped Darim up, as there were too many people around for his comfort.  Darim's skinny arms went around his father's neck instantly.

"So Sef what did I forget?"  The smirk on his face an adult would not miss but the child did.

The shopkeeper was smiling as he stood there watching the trio.  Sef looked at his father with his mother's eyes.  "You pwomised we would..."  The three year old was trying hard to remember.

"...Find the perfect gift for us."  Darim finished his brother's thought easily.  Sef stuck out his lower lip to pout.

Altaïr burst out laughing at his children.  "Someday Darim he is going to have to talk without you."  The assassin eyed the shopkeeper and nodded his head as he managed to balance the boys and reach for what he needed to pay the man.

The women were commenting about it not being right that a man had his children without their mother.  Altaïr ignored it easily but he was watching his children's faces change as they heard the nasty tones directed at their father.  The shopkeeper handed Darim a large cloth bag and nodded at Altaïr.

"Baba what's wrong?"  Sef's small voice contained too much worry for a three year old.

"Nothing Sef why do you think something is wrong?"  He was looking at his son and had not started walking again.  The smile had disappeared from his face as he looked at his younger son.

"Why they mean?"  Darim looked at Sef then at his father his eyes tinged with the gold of his father's. 

"Because they don't understand how much I love your mother."  The merchant was smiling at the young father as Altaïr walked away to find someplace to sit with his sons that was away from the crowds of the marketplace.

Altaïr sat down in a corner and set Darim on his knee and Sef was sitting next to him.  He took the bag from Darim and opened it.  The first thing he pulled out was sweets and he divided it up between his sons evenly.

Sef was looking at his piece and Darim's carefully.  "Baba you gave him more."  He whined in his small voice that if someone that knew Altaïr had heard they would have laughed at how much like his father he sounded.

"Sef he's older than you but I gave you each half."  Altaïr sighed as he looked through the contents of the bag and smiled.

He waited until they demolished their sweets before he took more out of the bag.  The two tiny practice swords he had had made just for them. 

"We get to be baba."  Darim exclaimed a little too loudly.  Sef's eyes got huge as he looked at his father and stood next to him sitting there and placed sticky sugar laced kisses on his father's face.  He reached for what the assassin was holding and took the smaller one into his long fingers.

"But baba's the best."  Sef remarked being careful to not hit anything with his new toy.  Altaïr could only smile as he held him close as he stood there a maniacal grin on his face as he turned and jumped off the bench to chase his brother.  Darim easily moved out his shorter reach.

"Be careful you two."  Altaïr's firm voice was a reminder of the fact they were not home.  Darim looked at his father and ran back to him climbing into his lap and giving him a huge hug.

"Thank you father."  The boy was just glowing as his father held him back for a few moments before he scampered away again but neither went too far.  They knew what their father could turn into when he was angered.

"You are welcome."  He sighed knowing Maria was probably going to be upset with him but it was in their blood from both of them.  He was watching them carefully but a playful smile was painted on his face as they sparred with each other Sef winning despite being smaller than his brother.

He let them play blissfully in the winter sun as he wondered what it would have been like if he had had a brother but in some ways he did since he and Malik sure fought like brothers when they were younger and training together.  He pulled a piece of fruit out of the bag and was eating calmly but his eyes were moving everywhere out of habit and they would stop on his sons.  It seemed like only yesterday Sef was being born and now he was three.

The sky was turning pink when he rose and walked the few steps to where the boys were playing gleefully.  "Come on you two your mother will wonder where we are."  He scooped them both up as they were both tired to the point Sef was falling asleep as he carried them back to the castle.

Darim carried his new toy in both his hands as he clung to his father's neck his black head leaning on Altaïr's neck.  By the time he got up to the castle they were both asleep in his arms.  Sef's head was laying on Altaïr's shoulder as he walked into the library and there was Maria waiting worriedly but out of sight.

She could only smile at the sight of her husband carrying their sons in his arms despite the exhausted look on his face.  Maria walked quietly over to him an impish smile on her thin lips. 

"Where were you?"  Her eyes sparkled in the sunset as he stopped and shifted Darim slightly. 

"It was gift giving day so I got something for all three of you."  The assassin laughed as he walked away from his wife a confused look on her face.


End file.
